272 SIR WILLIAM DAWSON, C.M.Q., LL.D. ; F.R.S., 



In Modern Science in Bible Lands, I have referred to 

 this rock as an olivine-dolerite, and some of the varieties of 

 it seem to contain more olivine than that examined by 

 Mr. Adams. The use of this material suggests the question 

 whether the artists who first employed it may have taken a 

 lesson from the ancient nations who used a similar material so 

 extensively in Northern Syria, or whether, on the other hand, 

 Egyptian masons may have been employed in Bashan. In 

 every country, however, the builder seeking for material 

 comes to similar conclusions, according as he attaches more 

 or less importance to accessibility, durability, or beauty. 



3. The Nubian Sandstone. 



This takes precedence in point of architectural use of all 

 stones in Egypt, except, perhaps, the Eocene limestones. 

 It is not only a soft and easily cut stone, and one which in 

 the climate of Egypt is sufficiently durable ; but where the 

 Nile cuts through its outcrop in the gorge of Silsilis, or 

 Silsileh, it presents exposures and facilities for shipment 

 unsurpassed in the world. It was, however, quarried at 

 other places, as in the vicinity of Assouan and in Nubia, 

 where the great temple of Abu Simbel is excavated in this 

 rock. Here, and in the great colossal figures of Amenophis, 

 in the Plain of Thebes, its use in sculpture of the colossal sort 

 is seen, and at Karnak, Kom-ombos, Edfou, and Denderah, its 

 architectural employment on the most gigantic scale. That 

 it is the material of the stupendous hypostyle hall of Seti I at 

 Karnak, should perhaps give it precedence over all other 

 stones of construction. The way in which in interiors it was 

 coated with a gypseous cement and painted, I have else- 

 where explained. In one quarry behind Assouan the patient 

 excavator, instead of cutting rectangular blocks, had cut out 

 at one operation large drums for columns, leaving semi- 

 circular niches in the face of the rock. Regarded as a rock, 

 it is a siliceous sandstone, composed of angular grains very 

 loosely cemented, so that it is easily crumbled, and its colour 

 varies from a light cream colour, or nearly white, to a 

 yellowish-brown. Its age probably ranges from Permian to 

 Lower Cretaceous,* and it differs from the newer sandstone of 

 Jebel Ahmar in its less amount of siliceous cement and of red 

 oxide of iron, and in the absence of any rounded grains. Its 



* Fossils and stratigraphical arrangement seem to indicate that there 

 may be two Nubian sandstones, one later Palaeozoic, the other Cretaceous ; 

 but they cannot at present be separated with certainty. I have 

 discussed this qutstion elst where, 



